Hedgelaying World Record Attempt creates wildlife haven

National Hedgerow Week

Hedgelaying World Record Attempt creates wildlife haven - Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

National Hedgerow Week, Monday 10 October - Monday 17 October 2022

(image: Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust)

Ahead of this year’s National Hedgerow Week, more than 60 hedgelayers from around the UK and Ireland converged on East Hampshire for a Guinness World Record attempt for the longest stretch of hedge laid in 12 hours. Dr Francis Buner, senior scientist at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) was called upon for scientific advice and to act as ‘Specialist Witness’ for the world record attempt.

The event on 1 October at the Rotherfield Park Estate resulted in a remarkable 555.4 metres of hedges laid in approximately seven and a half hours - a speed of nearly 80 metres of hedge laying per hour. £6,550 has so far been raised by the event, being split between prostate and breast cancer charities and the Ukraine DEC appeal.

Dr Buner said: “Hedgelaying is a beautiful rural tradition and the people practising it are simply lovely. In times gone by hedgelaying was a necessity to keep livestock in fields, each region having its own typical style. Once the hedge has grown back, it will be beaming with wildlife once again.”

With a mix of amateurs and professionals from the National Hedgelaying Society and the National Hedgelaying Society of Ireland all working in 10m strips, the attempt saw over 60 hedgelayers getting involved. The local team was joined by teams from North Somerset, Lancashire and Westmoreland, Devon, the South of England, Midlands, Cheshire and Ireland. Many of the teams brought their own regional styles of hedgelaying, including the Midlands style and the Irish freestyle.

Conditions at Rotherfield Park Estate meant that this record attempt was difficult to compare to a previous hedgelaying record achieved, of just over 280 metres of hedge laid in 12 hours by two people, which it is assumed was undertaken by professional hedgelayers working on optimal hedges. Hedges should ideally be laid at eight or nine years old. In the Rotherfield attempt, the hedges had last been coppiced (cut down to one foot tall) around 18 years ago and were already 30 to 40 years old at that point. This, combined with the exceptionally dry spring and summer, meant that the stems and trunks were extremely thick and brittle, and the hedges included a mix of species with plenty of thorn bushes - proving a challenge for even the most seasoned of hedgelayers.